Journey: Posio – Riisitunturi – Ristikallio – 2km from Russia
In Posio we had camped outside a beautiful ceramics gallery so we had a lovely look around there, then visited a small museum linked to the shop.
I’d accidentally taken us to the wrong part of Riisitunturi National Park so we ended up on dirt tracks in the middle of nowhere but still had a lovely short walk. A big bonus of being off the beaten track is that the dogs get really animated and I imagine it’s because they are more likely smelling animals, though I confess we haven’t seen any wildlife (bar the occasional bird, frog and squirrel) while out walking. It’s always a striking contrast how wrapped up I am compared to Mark, our thermostats are very different lol 😂
We then had the choice of three walks in Oulanka National Park – a canyon 6km, a scenic point 8.5km, or orchid woodland 5km. I plumped for the longest as I’d read it was a stunning view, plus it avoided an hour roundtrip of road works to the main park entrance (having already rattled off the ceiling screen cover again on bad roads 🙈).
The walk was lovely, Mabel is like a new dog – having lost a bit of weight she is always the most keen to go out and bounds around. A transformation from her sofa dwelling days where she would quite often decline a walk. We saw lots of different mushrooms and I’m getting better at spotting the yummy blue berries that you can happily munch along the route (Fins make jam/sweets from them).
After a late lunch we drove into the back and beyond for Marks early birthday treat – I dropped him off deep in the woods just 2km from the Russian border so he could spend the night out bear watching with a group. He has amazing photos and details to share with you in tonights write up 🐻❤️
The pups and I had a relaxing evening. With no phone signal and thus no social media or internet distraction, I deep cleaned the van, did my exercises, made Mark a birthday card, then had a little pamper with face mask, snuggled into Marks hoody, made a hot water bottle, lit my prosecco candle (thanks Celine it smells devine!), and enjoyed a game of banagrams with a tumeric latte (my new favourite). I really am a happy old lady at times #simplepleasures
SofaWolves 